The first important theme I’m going to talk about is innocence. As ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is told from a child’s point of view we get a very innocent perspective on very grown up issues like racism. She also presents things in a humorous way, which makes it easier to read. An example of this is when she starts talking to a member of a lynch mob who have set out to murder Tom Robinson. She sees nothing wrong with talking to him about his son and so makes him think like an individual, breaking up the mob atmosphere. Atticus says soon after this ‘…maybe we need a police force of children’ as children have not yet become prejudiced and so can see people for who they are, and they don’t take things like colour of skin into consideration when making decisions about them. The title of the book is also about innocence. Mockingbirds are seen as innocent as they ‘don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us’. Scout and Jem are taught that it’s a crime to hurt mockingbirds as they do nothing to hurt anyone, in the same way that it’s a crime to make fun of other peoples beliefs or lifestyles. In the novel both Boo Radley and Tom Robinson can be seen as Mockingbirds as they are kind-hearted people who have done no harm but whose circumstances have left there control.
Both Boo Radley and Tom Robinson are picked on because their lives are misunderstood by the narrow-minded society in which they live. It cannot be understood that Tom Robinson, a black man, could feel sorry for a white woman because her live should automatically be better than his should as she is white. An important lesson Atticus teaches his children is that ‘you don’t really know a man until you stand in
his shoes and walk around in them’. But this is something that no one in Maycomb seems to do. They see anything different to there own culture as wrong and necessary of change, without stopping to think that they may themselves be the ones in the wrong. Racism is see of as normal because that is how everyone has been brought up. Scout’s
teacher hypocritically says that ‘Over here we don’t believe in persecuting anyone. Persecution comes from people who are prejudiced’. But people in Maycomb are prejudiced. The white jury convicted Tom Robinson of raping Mayella Ewell without any evidence to show he was guilty, simply because it was a white mans word against a black mans word and why should you believe the black man? Although in theory Negroes were equal to whites after the Civil war they continued to live different lives, as white people wouldn’t accept them. The one man who has disregarded this now unwritten rule of segregation and gone to live with the Negroes is viewed as an outcast, someone not to be associated with because he is crazy. But when the children do talk to him, they realise he isn’t the slightest bit daft, he actually has some wise words to say- ‘Cry about the hell white people give coloured folk, without even stopping to think that they’re people too’. In fact, he may be one of the least insane people who live in Maycomb.
Another theme in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ which is still an important issue today is religious fundamentalism. Everyone in Maycomb is very religious and they say that everything they do is in the name of being a Christian. However there aren’t many people in the white population of Maycomb who display true Christian characteristics. They talk about doing charitable work instead of actually doing anything good. Their views of religion are purely to follow the rules as they interpret them, and to try and make everyone else do the same. But in contrast the black Christians are welcoming - ‘…we’re mighty glad to have you all’ says Reverend Sykes when Scout and Jem go to Calpurnia’s church. Also Atticus is an example of a ‘good’ Christian – he teaches his children to try and understand others viewpoints and be tolerant. He sticks up for Tom Robinson because he believes it is the right thing to do, even though it makes him very unpopular.
In conclusion I think that ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is a remarkable story. The issues which Harper Lee raises are still important today and probably still will be until everyone learns to be tolerant to those different to them. I think that she manages to bring them across in a humorous yet hard-hitting way, and that this novel will be a classic for years to come.
